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ex machina

9.17.2001

adam. i haven't heard from you since the bombing. you worked for merrill lynch in the wtc and therefore can understand my growing sense of unease. cleverly, i deleted my mozilla profile recently and have lost your e.mail address. please write.

please.

posted by e3 10:20:52 PM

in classic form, richard dawkins stirs the pot, although i'm guessing he's not going to convince anyone who doesn't already think along these lines:

"I am trying to call attention to the elephant in the room that everybody is too polite - or too devout - to notice: religion, and specifically the devaluing effect that religion has on human life. I don't mean devaluing the life of others (though it can do that too), but devaluing one's own life. Religion teaches the dangerous nonsense that death is not the end."

"Our leaders have described the recent atrocity with the customary cliche: mindless cowardice. "Mindless" may be a suitable word for the vandalising of a telephone box. It is not helpful for understanding what hit New York on September 11. Those people were not mindless and they were certainly not cowards. On the contrary, they had sufficiently effective minds braced with an insane courage, and it would pay us mightily to understand where that courage came from.

It came from religion."

i think there are many points that richard is glossing over, including the simple fact that it is not religion per se, but religion doctrine manipulated in the hands of a powerful rhetorician that is the issue. however, i think the point is still important to keep in mind, especially when you listen to george bush proclaiming that the u.s. is on a crusade to rid the world of evil doers:

""We've never seen this kind of evil before," the president said.

"But the evildoers have never seen the United States in action before either, and they're about to find out."

He vowed to "rid the world of evil-doers," delivering a fresh round of warnings against Osama bin Laden."

posted by e3 7:10:33 PM

9.16.2001

Introduction to Jakarta Struts Framework:

" This article focuses on one aspect of that development process: how to use the Struts framework to assist in front end integration. Struts is an open source framework developed for encouraging an application architecture based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design paradigm, useful in building Web applications with Java servlet and Java Server Pages (JSP) technology."

posted by e3 8:16:04 PM

!=

nobody would argue that because timothy mcveigh bombed the oklahoma federal building, then all whites are guilty of terrorism. we shouldn't paint other ethnic groups with the same broad brush. don't spread unjust hatred. [ poster via scripting news ]

posted by e3 5:36:30 PM

i just hear bob schieffer on face the nation comment that the wtc casualty figures represent the single largest loss of life in us history - even greater than the battle of antietam. without wanting to trivialize the loss of life at the wtc, this is simply not true. according to the national park service site, the current estimates of losses are slightly less that the antietam losses in the "morning battle". for the union. the total losses for the daylong battle were 12,400 union dead and 10,300 confederate dead.

again, by bringing up this fact, i am not trying to trivialize or diminish the staggering loss of innocent life at the pentagon and wtc. i'm only highlighting something that i didn't know, which is that a lot of people died on one day during the civil war and i had no idea.

posted by e3 10:58:19 AM

something i heard on npr this morning has me chewing on a large mental nugget.

what's the difference between liberty and privilege?

is getting on a plane without having to wait in line for two hours a liberty or a privilege? i think this is something that we will all have to demarcate clearly and in a public way in the coming months.

lest you take me for a raving libertarian, i'll be the first to admit that i don't know the answer. what is the proper balance between personal freedom and collective security? are our liberties those protected by the bill of rights and everything else is privilege?

posted by e3 9:22:21 AM

9.15.2001

i was going to try to avoid commenting on how despicable jerry falwell and pat robertson have been lately, but i can't stop myself.

why on earth is cnn carrying the headline that Falwell apologizes to gays, feminists, lesbians? although it's hard to tell for certain because the article is poorly written, it appears that even though falwell "apologizes" for implying that anyone besides the terrorists were responsible for the attack, he then hedges by stating:

"Falwell said he believes the ACLU and other organizations "which have attempted to secularize America, have removed our nation from its relationship with Christ on which it was founded."

"I therefore believe that that created an environment which possibly has caused God to lift the veil of protection which has allowed no one to attack America on our soil since 1812." he said.""

must be some kind of new definition of apology. i'd go on, but i'm guessing that i'm preaching to the converted.

posted by e3 11:33:53 PM

i woke up this morning and decided that it was time to set myself up with a wireless lan.

forgoing the bargain hunting on the web, i headed for my nearest big-box electronics stores and ended my search at best buy, where i found a linksys etherFast wireless ap + cable/dsl router for $199. yup, that's right, it's a router/firewall, access point and four port switch. for under $200. amazing, since it gets pretty good reviews. add the facts that you can upgrade the firmware for ethernet bridging capabilities >and< replace the antennas so you can get more range and i'm a happy guy. i also snagged a dlink pcmcia card, which performs admirably for $100. i'm getting solid coverage and throughput anywhere i might choose to roam in my two story house, including my front porch, which is where i am right now.

i can't believe i took so long to untether myself from my desktop. i'm downright giddy and i think it's freaking my wife out. i asked her if the neighbors would think it was strange if i ran outside and wandered in the street to see how far i could go. you can probably guess here answer. hi. ho.

posted by e3 7:22:44 PM

9.14.2001

i noticed on mozilla.org that the 0.94 branch has been officially released. nice stuff, including the ability to disable pop-up/pop-under ads:

"I have just checked in a little hack that disables the window.open call during onLoad and onUnload events, top-level scripts, and timeouts. This should block 99% of pop-up or pop-under ads out there on the Web while still allowing a page to open a window in response to a mouse click. It'll be in today's trunk builds and on the 0.9.4 branch. To turn on this feature, add this line to your prefs.js file (be sure to exit Mozilla before editing prefs.js or your changes will be overwritten):

user_pref("dom.disable_open_during_load", true);"

it's amazing how much more pleasant it makes your browsing experiences. it looks like slashdot is discussing [sic] the merits of the release.

posted by e3 7:36:35 PM

9.13.2001

john comments on the uptick in security measures at his work and makes a good point today regarding the potential loss of personal freedom that could result if we're not careful:

"[The security guard] didn't make me feel better. He made me feel annoyed. Annoyed that I was being scrutinized, examined, because I went to my workplace. Annoyed and angry that I was being made to display a small piece of plastic with a bad picture of myself on it, in order to get access to a place that I've been walking into freely for over a year. Annoyed and angry and sad that because of the events of yesterday, my personal freedoms were reduced just that little bit more, another tiny sliver, whittled away...Annoyed and angry and sad and dejected and bitter because the reduction in my freedom doesn't, the reduction in your freedom doesn't, the reduction in everybody's freedom doesn't make a damn bit of difference if somebody, anybody, the shadowy "they", decide to attack us again."

i had the same conversation with co-workers today and i think a little bit of wisdom from ben franklin on liberty is appropriate:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

posted by e3 8:37:57 PM

9.12.2001

i guess it's really not surprising that ebay had to ban sales of World Trade Centre and Pentagon memorabilia:

"The company says it has taken the step as a mark of respect for victims, family members and survivors of Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

According to reports, one of the sales removed by eBay staff offered debris from the Trade Centre complex."

pathetic.

interesting analysis by structural engineers as to why the towers collapsed, although it's really just a detailed explanation of the obvious:

""Only the containment building at a nuclear powerplant" is designed to withstand such an impact and explosion, says Robert S. Vecchio, principal of metallurgical engineer Lucius Pitkin Inc., referring to the hijacked Boeing 767 airplanes, heavy with fuel, that slammed into each WTC tower."

perhaps the most ill-timed album cover, which was released two weeks ago. no sign on ebay. yet.

poynter is publishing an extensive list of extra! newspaper covers.

more evidence of the power of a weblog and a digital comera.

it really is staggering to see the list of companies that operated in the wtc - a building filled with innocent people trying to make a living.

and maybe there are still heroes in the world. then again, the nyc public safety personnel already proved that.

posted by e3 8:03:20 PM

9.11.2001

this is a day that demarcates "before" and "after".

this is the day that will cause people will ask, "what were you doing when..."

i'm going to try to try to summarize some of my thoughts purely for my own future reference. i'm writing this to try to capture how i remember my stream of thoughts through the day. it likely won't be of interest to anyone else.

this is how i remember tuesday, september 11. 2001.

on the internet this morning. listening to npr. hear the report of the first crash. sounds like a commuter flight. do a couple of internet searches and don't find anything. i decide i don't want to watch t.v.

report of second plane hitting tower. another quick search on moreover. 1 story. i decide i can't resist. i watch t.v. for 30 seconds. i can't take bryant gumbel saying the same thing over. and over.

i debate going to work. decide that maybe it's best to try to occupy my mind with other things and get in car. increasingly unsettled feeling. twenty minutes in my drive i get a 2-way alert from a co-worker. he's at home watching t.v. watched the second plane crash into the tower with his son. first tower has collapsed. on npr, bob edwards seems out-of- sorts. more 2-way radio conversations from co-worker. reports of white house on fire. plane crashes in pentagon.

i work 20 minutes from o'hare airport. i hear report that all air traffic is halted, which explains the nightmare traffic back-up. i get a page from my wife. they are evacuating downtown chicago. traffic is crawling. i'm not sure what to think. things starting to blur together. reports of other plane crashes...reported car bombs...evacuation of whitehouse and other government buildings. i realize that i'm not prepared to digest all this sensory input.

i finally get into motorola parking lot. eery silence due to lack of planes on their glide path to o'hare. recreation room on first floor filled with people watching t.v. stunned looks on their faces. lots of people walking around with cell phones trying to contact family.

my wife calls and tells me that her co-worker's husband was going to a meeting at the towers today. he was in the building during the last bombing. no word if he's safe.

messages from upper management of motorola. upper management seems to be trying to encourage everyone to work as normal. message doesn't seem to get through, since they decide to deliver a live cnn web feed behind the corporate firewall.

wife calls. her co-worker's husband is safe. according to his wife, he was walking into the first tower when the plane hit. he dropped his luggage and crawled under a bench. debris rained down. he waited until things calmed down and contemplated getting his luggage. as he was about to get out from under, the bench the second tower was hit. potentially deadly amount of debris falls where his luggage is located. he's saved by being under bench and begins long treck to queens on foot.

i try to avoid live footage. i'm amazed at the blogging coverage as evidenced by dave and the blogger community.

people start to wonder why their are no initial casualty estimates. the mayor of new york will only say that it will likely be more than new york can bear. trying to avoid seeing the images that co-workers are commenting on of people jumping out of windows.

i lose my willpower and decide to click on a quicktime movie of the planes crashing into the towers. i feel something that i've never felt before. something akin to sadness mixed with shock.

the rest of the day is a mix of bundled attempts to take my mind off things by actually working.

i drive home. hear somebody at state department speak on npr. i hear something that sounds close to, "we aren't going wait until we find who really did this. we know about lots of terrorists. we know countries that support those terrorists." vauge allusions to bombing whomever we think are terrorists.

i decide that it might be best to get a few beers. woman behind the counter at store looks at me and says simply, "i'll tell you what. george is right. we better get those people." i'm not sure who she thinks "those people" are, but i'm not getting the impression that she's going to put much thought into it. the juxtaposition of her comments with the fact that i can see the middle-eastern owners of the store in the back makes me feel something. i can't tell if it's positive or not. i decide sometimes there's no deciphering irony.

i get home. kris comments that our neighbor called. she's advocating that we bomb whoever did this. the sooner the better. kris asked politely if that wasn't the type of thinking that got us into this in the first place. stammering. phone call ends.

on re-reading what i wrote, i want to make clear that i'm not trying to make a statement, i'm only putting down how i filtered the day. we should respond, but i'm not smart enought to begin to contemplate what an "appropriate" response to this type of terrorist activity means. all i know is that hatred, contempt and the ability to create caricatures of "those people" are what got us into this mess and it's certainly not going to get us out of it.

p.s. i am not a superstitious person. i don't believe i have any psychic ability. nonetheless, i wanted to capture something that i can only bin in the "not-sure-where-to-place-this" category.

one week ago kris woke up and said she had a disturbing dream. she was in a plane crash in the water. she thought the plane crashed near boston, but wasn't sure - she just remembered the water. after she awoke, we realized that the power went out in our house, but nowhere else in our neighborhood, which didn't help the freaky feeling. since she was leaving the following day for boston, we tried to determine when her abnormal fear of flying developed. we made nervous, spooky jokes and tried to drop the issue to ward off bad mojo [we're not superstitious. honest. o.k. maybe just a little. ].

the next night - 6 days ago - i dreamt that i was on board a plane. flying through the streets of a city. my dream wasn't as clear. why was i standing in the cockpit watching through the front window? why were we flying through the city? why am i on a plane. what city is this? why are we so close to the buildings? we're not supposed to be that close to the buildings.

a surreal red light is cast on all the buildings.

...

posted by e3 7:02:01 PM